AERIAL VIEW: Take a look at Maclean IGA progress

THE WEATHER may have held them back, but the walls are up, and Queensland Northern NSW state manager of Ritchies, Peter Lee, says they are getting closer to a completion date for Maclean's new IGA supermarket.

"We were hoping to be open some time early this year, but we had delays with weather back in October 2018, and it has pushed the completion out into the middle of this year, probably towards the end of July,” he said.

Mr Lee said with the main walls of the complex up and the steelwork being completed inside, the next part of the process was to build the roof.

"That will go a long way to stopping us having weather issues as we can work inside the building, and will hopefully be up in the next few weeks.”

Mr Lee said the internal works of services such as plumbing and electricity were time-consuming but had to be done before getting onto a fitout which he hoped to have from the middle of June.

"I've been down a couple of times and our builders are telling me they're using a lot of local businesses and trades and mentioned that some of the construction workers who had finished works on the roads and bridges have been used, which is good for the employment in the area.”

Mr Lee said they had been in consultation with Clarence Valley Council about access around the construction area, and were continuing to abide with requests regarding the fencing.

"The council have come to us a couple of times about where the fences are in regards to street access, and anytime they've asked we've moved, and will continue to do so.”

After the completion of the building and a new supermarket, a new team of workers will be required, and Mr Lee said they were putting together a completely new team from scratch.

"We're very excited to have a well-trained store manager coming to run the store for us. He has run some of our best stores in Victoria, and moved to the Mid North Coast in the last 18 months and has put his hand up. He will be on the ground from April onwards recruiting and training team members,” he said.

"We're starting to get a lot of expressions of interest from people wanting employment and if anyone is interested they can email me at peter.lees@ritchies.com.au.”

He said the company would also start holding open meeting days for local suppliers who were interested in selling their goods through the store.

"We have dedicated sections in our Ballina and Kyogle stores for local produce, and will be advertising different days for meeting interested suppliers,” he said.

"We're really excited about the challenge... the finish of the building is just the start of us opening up business in Maclean.”